The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Zephaniah 01
1 Yahweh’s† word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface ofthe earth, says Yahweh.
3 I will sweep away man and animal. I
will sweep away the birds of the sky, the
fishofthe sea, and theheaps of rubble with
the wicked. I will cut off man from the
surface of the earth, says Yahweh.
4 I will stretch out my hand against
Judah and against all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of
Baal from this place—the name of the
idolatrous and pagan priests,
5 those who worship the army of the
sky on the housetops, those who worship
and swear by Yahweh and also swear by
Malcam,
6 those who have turned back from following
Yahweh, and those who haven’t
sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
7 Be silent at the presence of the Lord‡
Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand.
For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He
has consecrated his guests.
8 It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s
sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the
king’s sons, and all those who are clothed
with foreign clothing.
9 In that day, I will punish all those who
leap over the threshold, who fill their
master’s house with violence and deceit.
10 In that day, says Yahweh, there will
be the noise of a cry from the fish gate,
a wailing from the second quarter, and a
great crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for
all the people of Canaan are undone! All
those who were loaded with silver are cut
off.
12 It will happen at that time, that I will
search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will
punish the men who are settled on their
dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will
not do good, neither will he do evil.”
13 Their wealth will become a plunder,
and their houses a desolation. Yes, they
will build houses, but won’t inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink
their wine.
14 The great day of Yahweh is near. It
is near and hurries greatly, the voice of
the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries
there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of
distress and anguish, a day of trouble and
ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of
clouds and blackness,
16 a day ofthe trumpet and alarm against
the fortified cities and against the high
battlements.
17 I will bring such distress on men that
they will walk like blind men because they
have sinned against Yahweh. Their blood
will be poured out like dust and their flesh
like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s
wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he
will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.